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As we approach the end of the year, you may be thinking of making a large financial gift to your children, grandchildren or others in your life.

Gifting strategies and the tax laws that create them can be confusing. Even as I write this, Congress is considering major legislation that could impact generational gifting for millions of Americans in the future.

That was my first official day as a financial planner. For several months, I had been working hard to get licensed, establish a network of contacts, and get set up to hit the ground running, but Wednesday, November 22, 1992 was my official first day on the job.

My manager generously allowed me to celebrate by taking the next day off. The fact that the next day was Thanksgiving and he wanted to spend it with his family, I am sure was just a coincidence.

Back then, the only days we had off were Sundays and major Federal holidays. The Friday after Thanksgiving was not one of them. So, on Friday the 24th I was back at it – or maybe I should say “at it” since I hadn’t really even gotten started yet.

Since 2009, GiveMN.org has paired charitable donors with qualified charitable organizations in a uniquely Minnesota movement known as Give To The Max Day.

Last year alone, donors anted up more than $20 million over a 24-hour period to support their favorite causes. To date, Give To The Max Day has raised over $125 million dollars for Minnesota-based charitable organizations.

World War I officially ended at “the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month” in 1918. A year later, Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th to be “Armistice Day”.

Congress declared November 11th to be “Veterans Day” in 1954. Since then, we’ve taken this day to recognize and honor all military veterans, both living and dead, who have honorably served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

5 steps to creating stronger passwords

Prior to the Equifax breach, I admit to being lax in my personal cybersecurity. In my defense, it wasn’t so much that I was careless, I was just naïve to the risks that we face in our digital world.

Sure, I used passwords and followed all the basic rules. I assumed that big companies, the government and other stewards of my personal data, kept it secure in a way that I could count on.

In the past, that may have been enough, but after the recent Equifax breach, I decided to take a much more proactive approach to protecting my family’s personal information and reducing the risk of more serious problems down the road.

Your passwords – how you create them, how you manage them and how often you update them – are at the core of a strong cyber self-defense plan.

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